Going to Iceland with CADIP

1.
Posted bysixtyshapy(Budding Member 2 posts) 7y
Star this if you like it!

So from June 6th-June 20th I will be in Iceland volunteering to "Help restore the natural and historical heritage of the Highlands north of Vatnajokull glacier". I plan on staying a day or two extra before and after to whale watch/go to the blue lagoon/check out the few vegan restaurants in Reykjavik.

My questions are:

1. How do you suppose the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland will affect travel? I feel like it will make it cheaper since no one will want to go there anymore? I haven't booked flights yet and I will be flying out of Madison/Mikwaukee/Chicago, whichever is cheapest. I was a little disappointed that when I applied for the volunteer spot I was finding tickets for around $700/$800 and now about a week or two later they all seem to be around $1200 I've been trying to search for flights in and out on weekdays opposed to weekends but it doesn't seem to make much difference. I have about a $380 credit for cheaptickets.com. Is there anything anyone recommends for actually getting there?

2. Has anyone volunteered abroad through CADIP? They are a third party that sets stuff up, which appealed to a lazy person like me. I've never volunteered abroad before or really done anything like this so I'm aware I probably paid them to do absolutely nothing, but the short application and not having to jump through hoops appealed to me. So far they are kind of worrying me with the not getting back to me about flight information I requested. They said they would email me the information a month before the trip but I'd really like to get my flights taken care of now so I can request time off work plenty in advance and have everything all taken care of in case the flight prices go up again, you know? Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this company.

Thanks.

2.
Posted bymchmusic(First Time Poster 1 posts) 7y
Star this if you like it!

Yes! I went to Iceland through them! Sorry, seems like I got a hold of this much too late and you're already off. But it's neat that I had exactly that experience. Iceland is soooo ridiculously beautiful. I was part of a camp that did a lot of hiking and prepared a local festival on the Westman Islands. The people were so spirited, everyone was having so much fun, and the scenery was to die for! We visited the relatively new volcano around and I'd never had such an experience! CADIP was great about putting it on and such. I don't think that they're only an intermediary, or at least I don't know that you could just jump over them.

I hope you're having an awesome time right now! I am almost jealous, because the new eruption probably just made Iceland just that much more exciting to go to. I wouldn't know about travels, but I hope the pricing wasn't too heavy...

[ Edit: Edited on 08-Jun-2010, at 05:20 by mchmusic ]

3.
Posted byflyingbob(Inactive 842 posts) 7y
Star this if you like it!

In know you've already gone now, but perhaps if you've fallen in love with Iceland (as I did) and you're going back again, there are soe great deals to be had with Icelandair flying out of JFK.